Nick Travis - Wanderer

During my child hood I was always the small kid , the one others picked on. Now, that I’m probably at the end of my growth spurt I’m 5”10. Not overly tall for a guy but tall enough to get my points across and I have many of them, let me tell you. If you ask me I’d say I’m in good shape. I have my muscles in all the right places but I’m none of those idiotic careers, who are lifting weights just to gain mass. What for? The chicks dig me the way I am. At least that’s what they are telling me before the kick me out a few days later.
My hair is as dark and doesn't match my blue eyes, thick and sometimes neatly combed but mostly I don’t really care about it. What usually wins girls over is my cute smile. Some call it dorky but again, who cares?
Over the years I have collected 11 scars and broken my nose and three fingers.
Lots of people think I half asleep or drank too much because my eyes are often half closed and I cock my head back a little to watch people underneath my half-closed lids. My slow talking doesn’t help much to change that impression.
Nice clothes are great if you can afford them. If I get my hands on some I’d surely wear them because I love how nice cotton fabric or soft leather excentuates my character. Well, mostly I just can’t afford those so you’ll see me running around in old shirts with holes.

Trouble-that’s what a lot of people call me. Are they right? Is suppose so but do I care…no not really. How else would you get by if your parents ditch you in front of some rich guys house at the age of four because your just another hungry mouth to feed and they want a better future for you. That’s what the letter said. Funny, I wandering around aimlessly is a better future then I guess they did the right thing, those bastards.
I was lucky enough that those rich folks actually took me in for a while until they found out how much trouble I really was and I got kicked out of the second school. The foster home couldn’t tie me down either so I finally packed my pack and left. That was 4 years ago and I’m seventeen now.
So here’s my philosophy. I have fun whenever I want, I work whenever I want and when I can’t afford stuff that I need I’ll take it from whoever doesn’t necessarily need it.
I do all the stuff that is slightly illegal but just too good not to do it…so watch out. If you see a guy running down the street naked piss drunk it’s probably me.
So far I’ve been getting by great like that if I move often enough.
As for friends. I don’t have many, not the good kind anyway. I’d love to have a real girl friend but so far I never really stuck around long enough. Usually I meet girls, sweet talk them into letting me stay for a while, make out, enjoy while it lasts and then run as far away as I can.
I did that about three years go as well. Only problem was that I got the girl pregnant. When she told me I freaked out. I of all the unresponsible scumbags I've met couldn't be a father. That"s a whole shitload of responsibility and would put a sudden end to my travels. The girl was awesome, sweet, nice but as soon as she told me that she was having a baby I got so incredibly freaked out that I left her as well....
Full of remorse and regrets I came back when the little girl, my little girl, was about two years old. I really tried hard to be a father but her mom and I didn't work out and then the law came after me so I had to hit the road if I didn't want to endager my baby. My daughter is the only woman who means something to me and therefore I try to stay as far away from her as possible.

Don't ask me how my parents managed to be as poor as a church mouse in a district like four. Everybody here had enough to get by and a little more. At least. Everybody except us.
My family, as far as I remember, had 6 children. Mom was nurse and my dad worked at a small sea food shop in town. They barely had enough to raise one child let alone 6. Maybe that's one of the reasons for us being the joke of our town. My parents simply had too much fun making babies than taking care of them or feeding them.
That’s how me and my older sister ended up being ‘transferred to another family’. All to our benefit , of course. One day we were simply dropped at some rich folks door step in the hope that these people had a big enough heart to take us in. And luckily they did.
The folks, who took me in, Mr. and Mrs. Chedrick were sweet, rich, well educated people and they were trying to make me sweet and well educated as well. Needless to say that it didn’t work for a brat like me. I got sick and tired of them trying to bend me and make me a better, smarter, politer boy and broke more and more rules them and my teachers put up until I got expelled…twice.
My super sweet surrogate parents tried again but I preferred to give them their freedom back and started ‘travelling’, first to the coastal towns, then inland. What did I live off? You would not beleive how much edible things some restaurants and shops throw out plus I was able to earn a penny or two on boats when I had to. That was just what I needed. I saw so much of my district and learned so much that I had no idea about…like how to make wine of fallen apples. The people I met, oh boy. You would not believe the stories old folks tell about Panem. A spark was lit somewhere deep inside of me by these stories. Curiosity, I guess. This curiosity started driving me around in search of more of these 'stories' or were they maybe the truth.
I decided to see whether the tales were really true for myself and chose to be a wanderer. That’s my one and only true passion, I guess: Finding truth.
That was almost 4 years ago. I’ve been following that path ever since. Usually I take small jobs here and there or I take small things that nobody misses here and there. Anyway, here I am, still in search of it…knowledge, the truth about our nation.

Update (played stories): Since my ex and I didn't work out at the second try we decided she'd tolerate me for our daughters sake. Unfortunately my gambling debt caught up with me in the form a few angry thugs. In order to not endager my little girl I picked up my few belongings and left the district alltogether. This seemed to be the only way to keep her and my sorry ass safe.

I fled to district 7 where I kept gambling nevertheless. What else was I supposed to do? I don't know a trade or have any money. This time I was slightly luckier. After loosing more than I owned I managed to win a fishing boat, which not only was worth a lot of cash but also suddenly gave me a new perspective on life. With this ship I was able to actually earn a living and despite the work being hard I enjoyed it and started paying back my debt. My big goal is it to one day return to my daughter and pay back my debt so I can stay with her. For now I toiling away casting nets and spear fishing.